Moving on up? Exploring the career journeys of skilled migrants in the professions

Sarpong, David; Maclean, Mairi

doi:10.1080/09585192.2019.1629987

Cited by 10 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 126 publications

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“…In that vein, we confirm that migrants often must work twice as hard to overcome career challenges (e.g. Hajro et al ., 2019; Sarpong and Maclean, 2021). Contrary to this approach, “career rebels” tried to negotiate and strategize their approach to overcome career barriers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Being an “outsider in”: skilled migrants' career strategies in local organizations

Usanova

Zikic²,

Vaiman³

2023

JGM

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PurposeAlthough the literature on the careers of skilled migrants is growing, relatively little is known about their experiences inside host country organizations. This article is a replication and an extension of a study by Zikic et al. (2010) on career challenges and coping strategies of skilled migrants. In contrast to the replicated study, where the focus was on the unemployed pool of talented migrants, in this study, the authors look at the career experiences of those who are already employed. Similar to the study of Zikic et al. (2010), the authors seek to explore how migrants understand their careers and what approaches they use to enact career opportunities from the perspective of “insiders” in local organizations.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a qualitative explorative approach. Based on 24 in-depth interviews with highly qualified specialists, who were hired for positions in Luxembourg corresponding to their professional profiles, the authors explore what challenges they face at the workplace and how they tackle them.FindingsThis research not only replicates the study of Zikic et al. (2010) but also extends the authors’ knowledge of the careers of skilled migrants in the context of local organizations. By focusing on employed skilled migrants, the authors open a “black box” of their career challenges and strategies and extend an earlier career typology (Zikic et al., 2010) into what happens within local organizations. In particular, this study identifies two major challenges that skilled migrants experience, namely, “trying to fit in” and “managing career mismatch”. Then, it shows three unique strategies that skilled migrants use to manage their careers. This allows us to cluster skilled migrants into three categories that the authors conceptualized, namely “workhorses”, “career rebels” and “career conformists”.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on the careers of skilled migrants by theorizing the experiences of migrant careers after organizational entry. It also contributes to the talent management literature by providing nuanced insights into the challenges, strategies and profiles that this global talent has.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, this has been largely called for by scholars since the majority of the studies still focus on the careers of migrants in the pre-organizational-entry status (e.g. Zikic, 2015; O' Connor and Crowley-Henry, 2020; Sarpong and Maclean, 2021). Second, by replicating and extending the study of Zikic et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Being an “outsider in”: skilled migrants' career strategies in local organizations

Usanova

Zikic²,

Vaiman³

2023

JGM

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“…Cooke et al , 2013; Guerrero and Rothstein, 2012), social capital (e.g. Sarpong and Maclean, 2019; Shirmohammadi et al , 2019) and cultural capital, referring to the local vocational norms, behaviors and unwritten laws of work culture and host countries' value systems (e.g. Al Ariss and Syed, 2011; Hakak et al , 2010; Lu et al , 2016).…”

Section: Selection/development and Cdsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organizational culture and cultural diversity: an explorative study of international skilled migrants in Swedish firms

Farashah

Blomqusit

2021

JGM

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PurposeThis paper empirically explores the types and extent of cultural diversity strategies in Sweden, a developed economy with many migrant workers. The role of organizational culture as the context and the association with diversity strategy and the selection of international skilled migrant workers are examined.Design/methodology/approachEmpirical data are collected by surveying 249 Swedish large or medium-sized firms. Cluster analysis is used to explore the configuration of organizational culture, cultural diversity strategy (CDS) and selection and development criteria.FindingsThe authors identify five clusters of organizations. Organizational culture is the main contextual factor that influences the CDS and human resource (HR) approaches for selecting skilled migrant workers. The profile of the clusters including organizational culture, diversity strategies, the selection criteria and firm demographics is presented. The empirical results indicate that organizational culture and demographics are associated with the choice of diversity strategy and, consequently, HR processes.Originality/valueThis study's main focus is on international skilled migrants, which is among empirically less-studied areas in global mobility literature. Furthermore, until now more attention has been directed toward studying the consequences of diversity than toward understanding the factors that influence choice of diversity strategies and practices. This study focuses on antecedents of diversity and attempts to understand the factors that influence adoption and implementation of different cultural diversity strategies.

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“…Our study takes a step toward addressing these lacunae in prior research in turnover by articulating a practice-relational rooted explanation that accounts for why people choose to leave organizations in droves (Chow et al, 2012;Sarpong & Maclean, 2021). In doing so, we draw in novel fashion on ideas from Notsie narrative, a West African literary folklore that emphasizes position-practice relations, to theorize and advance a nuanced understanding of the underlying characteristics of employee departures from financial-sector firms due to shared social processes and decisions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Notsie narrative perspective on turnover in the UK financial services industry

Sarpong

Maclean

Hassan

2022

Africa Journal of Management

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Drawing on a cultural perspective from the Global South, Notsie narrative, a West African literary folklore, we explore the high churn rate in the UK financial services industry. Viewing the storied accounts of former financial complaint handlers through a Notsie narrative lens, we examine why they frequently quit their well-paid jobs. Our study elucidates how the relentless pursuit of efficiency culminates in managerial tyrannya set of impulsive and oppressive organizing practices that combine to precipitate high turnover. The wisdom of our Notsie narrative perspective centres on the importance of relationalitythe skilled ways of interrelating that create connections between people, and what it means for the Notsie kingdom being doomed to collapse without its people; a wisdom seemingly overlooked and undervalued in western ways of knowing, located in individualism, rationality, and instrumentalism.

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Moving on up? Exploring the career journeys of skilled migrants in the professions

Cited by 10 publications

References 126 publications

Being an “outsider in”: skilled migrants' career strategies in local organizations

Being an “outsider in”: skilled migrants' career strategies in local organizations

Organizational culture and cultural diversity: an explorative study of international skilled migrants in Swedish firms

A Notsie narrative perspective on turnover in the UK financial services industry

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